14 votes

What do you think about the concept of generations?

I think it's a pretty decent way of visualizing a general group of people and the hardships or triumphs they went through, the only problem is when said events don't translate between countries & social classes and people refuse to distinguish them accordingly.

(For reference I'm late Gen Z.)

20 comments

  1. [3]
    Akir
    Link
    I don't think that it's a useful label. You could just as easily say "People in their 30s" or "People born in the 90s". They aren't even applied the same way to everyone; some people have...

    I don't think that it's a useful label. You could just as easily say "People in their 30s" or "People born in the 90s". They aren't even applied the same way to everyone; some people have arbitrary names ("Gen X", "Gen Y"), some have it based on a time frame ("Millenials"), and some of them are even vaguely insulting ("Boomers" is a bit insulting because it comes from the term "baby boom"; you're basically saying the only thing notable about them is that there are a lot of them). The only thing they are good for is getting people to group together, which only works because they are divisive in nature. In other words, it's a wedge to get people to argue.

    All of this is not to say that there aren't generational conflicts, but in reality those are a bunch of small-scale skirmishes largely centered around small groups of individuals, rather than the grand war that certain opinion pieces seem to want to paint them as.

    12 votes
    1. [2]
      cutchyacokov
      Link Parent
      I disagree with you on one point only. "Gen Y" was always a placeholder name. Generation X was so named because they are the forgotten generation that came after the Boomers. They had to try to...

      I disagree with you on one point only. "Gen Y" was always a placeholder name. Generation X was so named because they are the forgotten generation that came after the Boomers. They had to try to enter the workforce while the Boomers were still dominating it and in the midst of the late 80s/early 90s recession on top of that. They called Millennials "Gen Y" or "Gen Echo" (as the second largest generation after the Boomers and mostly children of Boomers) before there was a standard name. It's the same with "Gen Z" they don't get a name until well after the youngest are all born and the oldest are starting their careers in earnest. It was the same with Gen X and I believe the Silent Generation and certainly the Greatest Generation. The Boomers were an exception because they were named after a phenomena, the Baby Boom following World War 2.

      3 votes
      1. Akir
        Link Parent
        There is no generally accepted meaning behind the term "Generation X" as far as I can see. It seems to basically mean whatever the person saying it believes it to mean. For the most part, it's a...

        There is no generally accepted meaning behind the term "Generation X" as far as I can see. It seems to basically mean whatever the person saying it believes it to mean. For the most part, it's a placeholder term that has become definitive.

        It's a bit interesting when looking up the term on Wikipedia to see that they have also been called the "latchkey generation", which is yet another demeaning label. They also have a phenominon-based label, as the "MTV generation".

        2 votes
  2. [2]
    balooga
    Link
    I've never been wild about the whole concept, as demarcated by birth year. I think there might be more value in something similar based on cultural touchstones instead. The most obvious example...

    I've never been wild about the whole concept, as demarcated by birth year. I think there might be more value in something similar based on cultural touchstones instead.

    The most obvious example for me is the rise of the "digital native," a person who has never known a time before the advent of the web. Of course, the web didn't just appear overnight... different families got plugged in at different times over the span of a decade or two, so whether or not people qualify comes down to their individual experiences. Complicating things, the midpoint of that transition period came right around the middle of the "millennial" window, creating a generation composed of half digital natives and half digital immigrants.

    I'm in the latter category, and "millennial" is not terribly useful for describing me. My childhood was offline. I graduated college before the student debt crisis exploded. Struck out on my own and started my career immediately after school. Never got particularly into selfies or emojis or social media or the other things that are supposed to represent millennials. On the other hand, Gen X doesn't really fit either.

    If the lines were redrawn to account for more than just age, generations might be a useful concept. But not in their current form.

    9 votes
    1. tea_and_cats_please
      Link Parent
      I'm the same-ish age as you, I've heard us called "xennials". As a generation straddler, I don't feel like the labels are super great. I don't fit in your boxes, and I'm inclined to think that's a...

      I'm the same-ish age as you, I've heard us called "xennials".

      As a generation straddler, I don't feel like the labels are super great. I don't fit in your boxes, and I'm inclined to think that's a problem with your boxes.

      And they way they're used is just not great. I usually join the gen-xers and grab the popcorn when the millenials and boomers start slinging insults at each other. Ten years of boomer clickbait articles about boogeyman millenials that could all be boiled down to "kids these days and their (avocados, smart phones, social media, etc.)!". Now the backlash, "Ok boomer" memes and such. It's funny, but not very productive and it's very divisive.

      I can't think of any upsides, I can think of downsides. Either I'm just pessimistic, or generation labels are dumb.

      2 votes
  3. [3]
    Seven
    Link
    I really dislike the concept of generations. While some personality aspects are consistent across most people in a single age group, I find that on the whole, generational classifications only...

    I really dislike the concept of generations. While some personality aspects are consistent across most people in a single age group, I find that on the whole, generational classifications only serve to generalize and insult members of any particular generation. We can see this with how millennials were categorized as lazy and entitled, and now how baby boomers are categorized as out of touch and rude. I watched this great talk by Adam Conover about how basically all people are diverse and have different interests and abilities, and so it is counterproductive to categorize people by age at all.

    7 votes
    1. mieum
      Link Parent
      Like NaraVara mentioned, generations make more sense in the context of genealogy, but what is the real value of attributing general characteristics to whole swaths of the population just because...

      Like NaraVara mentioned, generations make more sense in the context of genealogy, but what is the real value of attributing general characteristics to whole swaths of the population just because they were born within some arbitrary time frame? I think you're right that generation distinctions are mostly used negatively. It's also interesting that so many people voluntarily identify with these labels. If it is counterproductive to categorize people by age at all, like Adam Conover says (thanks for the link btw), then I wonder why generational identity continues to be emphasized in the media. It appears that these distinctions mostly function to further polarize public opinion. It's suspicious that there is so much fodder for animosity among almost any conceivable group of people.

      3 votes
    2. Akir
      Link Parent
      I've become a small fan of Adam Conover lately, not as a comedian but as a talk show host. I've been listening to his podcast, "Factually!" for a while and I'm kind of amazed to listen to each...

      I've become a small fan of Adam Conover lately, not as a comedian but as a talk show host. I've been listening to his podcast, "Factually!" for a while and I'm kind of amazed to listen to each episode because of the excellent choice of interviewees (though Conover himself is a somewhat mediocre host, honestly).

      2 votes
  4. NaraVara
    Link
    It makes a lot more sense in the context of a community or family than for a massive population or nation. In my family we are very clearly divided among my grandfather's generation, my parents',...

    It makes a lot more sense in the context of a community or family than for a massive population or nation. In my family we are very clearly divided among my grandfather's generation, my parents', mine, and me and my cousins' children. Each of these generation has some very specific formative experiences and upbringings because we all were growing up exposed to similar things.

    But nation-wide, especially in a nation of immigrants, it makes no sense. Different sub-groups each have different formative experiences. For an immigrant family especially, the generation of immigration is the actual definitive break point, and the generations since immigration for that family are the most salient "counting unit." First gen, second gen, third gen, etc.

    The greatest, boomer, X, millennial, etc. division only makes sense in the form of a similar generational event for them, WWII. Everything is kind of an echo of that event and how disruptive it was to society and culture. Prior to that, WWI was the thing and prior to that the Civil War the thing. But when we're this far from the actual inciting event it doesn't make sense anymore. The same way that after three generations from immigration it makes less and less sense to talk about a fourth or fifth generation immigrant. At that point, the immigrant status has less salience to them.

    6 votes
  5. [3]
    cutchyacokov
    Link
    The trouble is that there is no universally agreed upon definition for these generations and anyone near the beginning of one generation will have a very different experience than those near the...

    The trouble is that there is no universally agreed upon definition for these generations and anyone near the beginning of one generation will have a very different experience than those near the end and, on top of that, they'll as often as not get grouped in with the previous generation than the one they think they are in. I was born in the early 80s and always thought that I would be in the next generation after Gen X but almost no one my age seems to self describe as Millennial. Certainly the media seems to be talking about late Millennials or even very early Gen Z whenever they mention "Millennials" so perhaps by the commonly used definition I'm Gen X or "Xennial" if you subscribe to the in-between generations.

    Also, if you're a late Gen Z wouldn't that make you like 4 or something? Did you mean early Gen Z? Depending who you ask that could make you as young as 14 or as old as 24.

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      Kuromantis
      Link Parent
      In my case it means as young as 14. Imo I find the idea of generations useful because it can describe a large group of people and take a more 'big picture' view and allows people really different...

      Also, if you're a late Gen Z wouldn't that make you like 4 or something? Did you mean early Gen Z? Depending who you ask that could make you as young as 14 or as old as 24.

      In my case it means as young as 14.

      Imo I find the idea of generations useful because it can describe a large group of people and take a more 'big picture' view and allows people really different to you to at least conceptualize your point of view If they're open minded.

      2 votes
      1. cutchyacokov
        Link Parent
        I see now. If you take the definition of Gen Z to be 1995 - whenever that would put you in the latter half of Gen Z although really quite close to the middle. However that's contingent on...

        I see now. If you take the definition of Gen Z to be 1995 - whenever that would put you in the latter half of Gen Z although really quite close to the middle. However that's contingent on Millennials starting at 1980 and ending at 1994, which, like I said earlier isn't really the way that generation is typically thought of in the current zeitgeist. Don't be surprised if you end up categorized as one of the older Gen Z by many people in the future.

        Some people like 20 year generations so Millenial could be 1985 - 2004, by that definition you are right on the boarder.

        1 vote
  6. mat
    Link
    I think they have rather less value than horoscopes. The Zodiac is at least a bit more granular, and just as meaningless. You just can't group people into such large categories, people's lives,...

    I think they have rather less value than horoscopes. The Zodiac is at least a bit more granular, and just as meaningless. You just can't group people into such large categories, people's lives, experiences and personalities are way too diverse. It's misleading and unhelpful to do so.

    Nobody ever talked about generations in the way we do now when I was growing up in the UK, it's only since the concept migrated over the Atlantic that it seems to have become a thing here. It's always seemed like curiously American thing to me, the desire to put everyone into various little boxes. The popularity stateside of the nonsense that is Myers-Briggs personality types is another example of this.

    5 votes
  7. AnthonyB
    Link
    I love the idea of generations and have been obsessed with the idea since I stumbled upon Strauss and Howe's Generations in my college library about 10 years ago. I should clarify that I am...

    I love the idea of generations and have been obsessed with the idea since I stumbled upon Strauss and Howe's Generations in my college library about 10 years ago. I should clarify that I am obsessed with generations (specifically, Generations) kinda the same way my hippie Anthro 101 professor was obsessed with Bigfoot, which is to say I don't really believe it, but I really fucking want it to be real.

    The closer we get to 2020, the more unsettling their predictions get. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, there is a pretty good summary of the book on Wikipedia. The final chapters predict the unraveling of our current 'saeculum' and the problems they describe fit pretty well with what's going on these days. Even if it is pseudoscience, you still gotta tip your hat just a bit since the book came out around the end of the Cold War and fall of the Soviet Union. While others were writing about 'The End of History,' these guys were drawing up the blueprints for how everything would turn to shit in a decade or so. And they're kinda nailing it.

    There are so many ways to criticise and poke holes in their "theory," that it's tough to take seriously; but I definitely think that there is some value in recognizing the different eras that people are born in and how that might effect the way they see the world. I don't know if it should carry the same significance as something like class or race, but it is significant. People who grew up with smart phones, the internet, and school shootings are going to see the world differently than people who grew up with bb guns, three TV channels, and the looming threat of mutually assured destruction.

    3 votes
  8. xstresedg
    Link
    An interesting note is that in Canada, at least as per Statistics Canada, there are no Millenials: The baby boomers (1946 to 1965): Baby Boomers Parents of baby boomers (1919 to 1940):...

    An interesting note is that in Canada, at least as per Statistics Canada, there are no Millenials:
    The baby boomers (1946 to 1965): Baby Boomers
    Parents of baby boomers (1919 to 1940): (more-or-less) Silent Generation
    Children of baby boomers (1972 to 1992): Generation X / Millenials; Xenials, perhaps?
    Generation Z (1993 to Present): Generation Z, Internet Generation, iGeneration

    "Finally, people born since 1993 have sometimes been designated as the new Generation Z or the Internet generation since they were born after the invention of the Internet. About 7.3 million people (22% of total population) born between 1993 and 2011 were counted in the 2011 Census. In 2011, these people were aged 18 and under and were just starting to enter the labour market."

    Apparently up here in the north, we do it different or something.

    SOURCE: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-311-x/98-311-x2011003_2-eng.cfm

    2 votes
  9. aphoenix
    Link
    I think that the idea of Generations is really interesting and grouping people by the zeitgeist of the age in which they grew up makes a lot of sense, and there's a lot of interesting, large-scale...

    I think that the idea of Generations is really interesting and grouping people by the zeitgeist of the age in which they grew up makes a lot of sense, and there's a lot of interesting, large-scale things that we can take from discussion of generations.

    What doesn't make sense is the way that people will take those generational labels and apply them to people. That's generally not a particularly interesting or valid thing to do.

    For example, I'm a member of "Generation X", and here's a super brief idea of what that means from Wikipedia:

    Generation Xers were children during a time of shifting societal values and as children were sometimes called the "latchkey generation", due to reduced adult supervision as children compared to previous generations, a result of increasing divorce rates and increased maternal participation in the workforce, prior to widespread availability of childcare options outside the home. As adolescents and young adults, they were dubbed the "MTV Generation" (a reference to the music video channel). In the 1990s they were sometimes characterized as slackers, cynical and disaffected. Some of the cultural influences on Gen X youth were the musical genres of grunge and hip hop music, and independent films. In midlife, research describes them as active, happy, and achieving a work–life balance. The cohort has been credited with entrepreneurial tendencies.

    It's interesting to see the sorts of things that very broadly describe the vast group of people of which I am a part, but there are a lot of things that don't match up with who I am as a person. If I explain I'm from Generation X, and you think that my parents were divorced, I was a latchkey kid, I'm a slacker, and I loved my MTV, then you've made a lot of insane deductions on who I am and what my life has been like. Similarly, if you see someone is a baby boomer and you deduce that they're conservative, wealthy, non-empathetic assholes who think that Millennials cause all the problems, then you're going to have a bad time as well; people come from all walks of life.

    As with most categorization aids, they're only as useful as the people using them.

    2 votes
  10. mrbig
    (edited )
    Link
    It’s a useful way to form a vocabulary to analyze culture in a historical framework. We should treat the concept as an heuristic tool, not as an actual phenomenon. But it makes for good headlines.

    It’s a useful way to form a vocabulary to analyze culture in a historical framework. We should treat the concept as an heuristic tool, not as an actual phenomenon.

    But it makes for good headlines.

    1 vote
  11. timo
    Link
    "Generations" are descriptions of groups that are often way too wide. As an example, let's look at what is considered a millennial: They are born from 1981 to 1996: What does someone from 1981...

    "Generations" are descriptions of groups that are often way too wide. As an example, let's look at what is considered a millennial:

    • They are born from 1981 to 1996: What does someone from 1981 have in common with 1996?

    The characteristics of millennials vary by region and by individual,

    So they are actually different groups per region AND on individual level...

    and the group experiences a variety of social and economic conditions,

    Can't really group them here...

    but they are generally marked by their coming of age in the Information Age,

    Their only distinguishable attribute is when they are born. And even that is a pretty wide definition.

    and are comfortable in their usage of digital technologies and social media.

    True, but that wouldn't narrow it down if you look at succeeding generations. It's also something that can be learned by earlier generations.

    I don't really see the point of assigning such a wide and varied population group a name. You can't really discuss it, because the definition is not strict at all.

    1 vote
  12. dblohm7
    Link
    Most of it is an artificial construct. I think you can draw some interesting data from demographics, but this idea that people's behaviour depends on which discrete bin their birth year fits into,...

    Most of it is an artificial construct. I think you can draw some interesting data from demographics, but this idea that people's behaviour depends on which discrete bin their birth year fits into, is nonsense.

    1 vote
  13. mrbig
    Link
    From Wikipedia I wouldn't go that far, but I think that's a frame of thought that can be used effectively to deny the actuality generations as a concrete, real phenomenon.

    From Wikipedia

    Nominalists assert that only individuals or particulars exist and deny that universals are real

    I wouldn't go that far, but I think that's a frame of thought that can be used effectively to deny the actuality generations as a concrete, real phenomenon.